I Can’t Vote For Trump

I Can’t Vote For Trump

By

Leonard Zwelling

https://www.npr.org/2023/12/14/1197959328/fresh-air-draft-12-14-2023

I am fully aware that a number of my readers will vote for Donald Trump if he is the Republican nominee for president and his opponent is Joe Biden. I get it.

Biden is a terrible choice by the Democrats for a number of obvious reasons.

First, he is way too old to be president and while seemingly in fine shape for 81, his thinking has clearly slowed and he’s lost a step when he doesn’t trip over something.

Second, his choice for a running mate is a disaster. Vice President Harris has no accomplishments to her name in her role as second in command. She was supposed to address the immigration problem and that has only gotten worse.

In saner times Biden would have announced that he is not a candidate in 2024 and allowed the party and the primaries to sort it out. He is too egomaniacal to do that which is very sad. If he doesn’t quit now, and he runs against Trump and loses, he will leave the stage in ignominy. If he just quits a la Lyndon Johnson in 1968, he will be remembered well for freeing us from Donald Trump in 2020.

Third, the Democratic Party is not representative of my values any longer. It was once, but not now. I was a middle-of-the-road conservative Democrat like Scoop Jackson or Jack Kennedy. These were people I looked up to and grew up with. Now those socially progressive, fiscally conservative, pro-defense types of Democrats are gone replaced by the DEI crowd, the Squad, and the inept leadership in the Senate.

Fourth, I do not view Biden’s presidency as all that successful. His foreign policy in Afghanistan, Israel, and Ukraine has been inadequate and muddle-headed.  We needed a continuing presence in Afghanistan at least to save those who helped us there. Biden did not get us in, but all he wanted was to get us out without considering the consequences to the Afghanis especially those who fought beside us. Essentially, it’s back to 2003 there.

In Israel, Biden is wobbly. He should be leading the move to return the hostages at whatever cost and plan for the future of the region without terrorists in charge of territory. All I hear is crickets and calls for a ceasefire with nothing in return from Hamas. We need to hear the big plan along with the short-term one. I have heard neither from Israel other than to kill all of Hamas, a stupid goal as it is impossible to kill a philosophy.

The economy is not perceived as having improved under Biden. While inflation is better now, most people still feel the pinch and a lot of the inflation was due to the flooding of federal money into the economy by Trump and Biden.

So, given all of that, why would I vote for Biden?

I fear Donald Trump and not because I find his personality distasteful or because of Stormy Daniels, or because of his inflating the value of his property. Donald Trump is the root cause of January 6. The mob at the Capitol felt called into action by him. Mr. Trump is an insurrectionist who will use his power to get even with his enemies and will undoubtedly do all he can to undermine the checks and balances in our system of government. (See attached Fresh Air podcast. Link above.)

Mr. Biden may be inept, but he appears to limit his actions to those proscribed by the Constitution. Mr. Trump is surrounded by lawyers desperately trying to find ways to get around the Constitution’s limits on presidential power. Many have been indicted with him in Georgia.

Mr. Biden is trying desperately to keep us out of war, but acknowledges the American role in the world. Mr. Trump would withdraw us from NATO and take nativism and nationalism to a new and frightening level. We are the essential nation. We must stay deeply involved in world affairs.

If Mr. Biden was running against any of the other Republican contenders, I would vote for the Republican. But, it is likely that we will have a replay of 2020 with Mr. Trump picking God only knows for his running mate. At this point if he picked Nikki Haley, I might reconsider my position, but I doubt he will. She’s too strong-willed and honest.

This is the most frightening election in my lifetime. Neither candidate is qualified for duty. One is too old; the other too radical.

But Mr. Biden will follow the Constitution. Mr. Trump will try to undo it.

I will have to hold my nose and vote for Biden. Trump may be good for my portfolio, but I fear the power of his followers and those around him who really do not believe in America. They will be drunk with power if they ascend to it again. Trump is simply too dangerous.

Now I know many of you out there disagree adamantly with me. I just want to go on record as saying I respect that and understand your reasons for voting for Trump or maybe it’s against Biden. After all I am really voting against Trump myself far more than I am voting for Biden.

But Trump scares the hell out of me. The conditions he wishes to take advantage of are reminiscent of those in Germany in the early 1930’s. That turned out badly. Attention must be paid.

Biden may be an old, bad choice, but he’s unlikely to foment an insurrection. Trump already has once. Give him another chance, and he’ll succeed next time. None of us can afford that.